NOJHL prelim round playoff dates
The Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League has confirmed the schedule for its two preliminary-round playoff series.
The best-of-three sets will feature the fourth-place Soo Eagles taking on the fifth-place Espanola Express in the West Division while the fourth-place Timmins Rock will meet the fifth-place Iroquois Falls Eskis in the East Division.
Winners of the two prelim series will then advance to the division semi-finals.
The winner of the Eagles-Express series will take on the Soo Thunderbirds.
The winner of the Timmins-Iroquois Falls set will play the Cochrane Crunch.
The NOJHL opening-round playoff schedule is as follows:
WEST DIVISION
Game 1: Friday, March 11 @ Soo Eagles 7:30 p.m. (Pullar Stadium)
Game 2: Sunday, March 13 @ Espanola 2 p.m. (Regional Recreation Complex)
Game 3*: Monday, March 14 @ Soo Eagles 8 p.m. (Pullar Stadium)
* if necessary.
EAST DIVISION
Game 1: Saturday, March 12 @ Timmins 7:30 p.m. (McIntyre Arena)
Game 2: Sunday, March 13 @ Iroquois Falls 5:30 p.m. (Jus Jordan Arena)
Game 3*: Wednesday, March 16 @ Timmins 8 p.m. (McIntylre Arena)
* if necessary.
Predictions:
Espanola wins 2-1 over SooM
Timmins wins 2-0 over Iroquois Falls
Cochrane wins 4-0 over Iroquois Falls
Kirkland Lake wins 4-2 over Powassan
Soo wins 4-0 over Espanola
Elliot Lake wins 4-2 over Rayside-Balfour
Cochrane wins 4-3 over Kirkland Lake
Elliot Lake wins 4-3 over Soo
Cochrane wins 4-2 over Elliot Lake
Hey RegDunlop You made mistake saying Timmins 2-0 over Iroquois then
calling Cochrane to beat Iroquois 4 – 0 lol…..
Mistakes happen. Maybe he was too excited that the NOJHL playoffs finally came. I predict that Cochrane wins the NOJHL and dominates the Dudley-Hewitt Cup. I’d like to see an all-NOJHL championship game (Kirkland Lake vs Cochrane). Now that would be exciting. It’s happened with the OJHL in 2005 (Georgetown vs St. Mikes), 2008 (Oakville vs Newmarket), 2011 (Wellington vs Huntsville), and 2014 (Toronto vs Wellington) and during those tournaments, the OJHL was hosting the tournament. The OJHL has always been dominant at the Dudley winning 9 out of 12 times since 2003 (first year of round-robin format).